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3rd Annual ROCP Award: THE WINNERS

It’s here! Every year I compile a list of nominees based on the movies I’ve seen. I pick the best and the worst. This year there were a lot of nominees. I even added a few last minute nominees especially after watching Dallas Buyers Club which so deserves to be here. SO check out the nominees and my winners and LEAVE A COMMENT about your agreements or disagreements.

2014 ROCP AWARD WINNERS

Best Movie of The Year: GRAVITYMy Nominations: Gravity | Captain Phillips | Short Term 12 | Her | Dallas Buyers ClubMy Thoughts: I’ve never had an experience like I did while watching Gravity in 3D IMAX. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Serene, vast, terrifying, isolated, and absolutely gorgeous. And as soon as the movie cut to back I’ve never had an entire theater let their breath out and say “ WOW.” Gravity is the best of the year.

Biggest Surprise Of The Year:WORLD WAR ZMy Nominations: Don Jon | The Way Way Back | Pacific Rim | World War Z | This Is The EndMy Thoughts: I was sure it was going to be terrible, especially with all the bad press, the terrible CGI fast moving zombies, and well Brad Pitt being his Brad Pittiest. However, this film was great. Solid writing, especially the ending and I was surprised by just how much I liked it.

Worst Movie Of The Year: GETAWAYMy Nominations: Getaway | Trance | The Big Wedding | A Good Day To Die Hard | Struck By LightningMy Thoughts: While all these movies were just terrible. The worst of the worst is definitely Getaway. When you have a good 15 minutes of your movie shot video game style from the POV of the driver with just Ethan Hawke’s breathing and the shifting of gears as audio, you deserve Worst. Movie. Of The. Year. I can’t believe I paid $10 to see this movie.

Biggest Let Down of The Year: MAN OF STEELMy Nominations: Carrie | Enders Game | Man Of Steel | The Host | Mortal Instruments: City of BonesMy Thoughts: While I had high hopes for all these movies, Man Of Steel was definitely the biggest. You have a good looking lead actor, a great cast, and a great story and it was just so bleak and gloomy. We have enough dark superheroes, that’s the easy route. Strange camera work, depressing story, bad character arcs, Man of Steel was a disaster.

Best Actor: JARED LETOMy Nominations: Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips | Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years A Slave | Hugh Jackman, Prisoners | Daniel Bruhl, Rush | Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf Of Wall Street | Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers ClubMy Thoughts: Okay, so the reason why Matthew Mcconaughey isn’t on this list, is NOT because he’s not a good actor and it’s NOT because he didn’t do a great job in DBC. He did, but he was also typical Matthew McConaughey. These other guys performed above and beyond what I’m used to seeing from them. That being said, of these guys Jared Leto is the winner. His transformation into Rayon is a revelation and his performance memorable and haunting.

Worst Actor/Actress: JAYDEN SMITHMy Nominations: Jeremy Renner, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters | Bruce Willis, A Good Day To Die Hard | Jayden Smith, After Earth | Selena Gomez, Get Away | Lily Collins, Mortal InstrumentsMy Thoughts: He was doing this strange accent thing, and he just wasn’t believable. I don’t think he’s a terrible actor, he was just really bad in After Earth, worse than any other actor I nominated, though Jeremy Renner is a close second. And I like Jeremy Renner.

Best Visual Effects: GRAVITYMy Nominations: Gravity | The Hunger Games: Catching Fire | The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug | Oz The Great And Powerful | Pacific RimMy Thoughts: Creating their own camera rigs to get special shots, shooting Sandra Bullock underwater to get the zero gravity thing down. Gravity is most definitely the winner. The visuals were stunning.

Best Romantic Movie or Rom-Com Of The Year: HERMy Nominations: Don Jon | Safe Haven | About Time | Her | FrozenMy Thoughts: Her was surprisingly sweet and genuine and romantic. Forget that he was in love with a computer, or the fact that it could truly happen, the message and the story is sweet. Creepy. But sweet. And it’s just a good movie with solid acting.

Best Action/Thriller Movie Of The Year: WORLD WAR ZMy Nominations: Star Trek: Into Darkness | Pacific Rim | World War Z | Oblivion | PrisonersMy Thoughts: It was a close race between World War Z and Star Trek: Into Darkness, but I really enjoyed World War Z. It was a nice blend of horror, thriller, and action and it went to some unexpected places.

Best Movie About Super Heroes: THOR: THE DARK WORLDMy Nominations: Thor: The Dark World | Iron Man 3 | Kick Ass 2My Thoughts: It’s just a solid film. Much more well-rounded than the first. It was funny, exciting and comic-al (get it? Comics? Comical). Out of these options it was the most well-rounded. Plus Chris Hemsworth is hot.

Best Cheesy, Campy, Goodness Film: ANCHORMAN 2My Nominations: The To Do List | Delivery Man | The Internship | This Is The End | Anchorman 2: The Legend ContinuesMy Thoughts: It was cheesy, campy, and hilarious. I know a lot of people didn’t like it but I guess I just get Ron Burgundy.

Most Depressing Movie: BLUE JASMINE & AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

My Nominations: August: Osage County | Short Term 12 | Blackfish | Prisoners | Blue JasmineMy Thoughts: Blue Jasmine was about this sad woman, living this sad life, after a sad scandal. She disrupted life all around her until she was finally left to fend for herself. The end. SAD. And it went nowhere. And August: Osage County – horrible people yelling at each other, sounds like fun right? Both these movies had fantastic performances, they were just sad, depressing movies.

Best Tearjearker: SHORT TERM 12My Nominations: Short Term 12 | About Time | Saving Mr. Banks | Fruitvale Station | BridegroomMy Thoughts: Short Term 12 made me cry multiple times. But what makes it worthy of the title BEST is that it was such a good film in the process of being a tearjerker. The depression didn’t weigh heavy on you like it does in other films (see The Spectacular Now). It’s a good film that will bring you to tears. Sometimes the tears just sneak up on you and those are the best kinds of tearjerkers.

Best Indie Movie: HERMy Nominations: Short Term 12 | The Spectacular Now | The Way Way Back | Her | Don JonMy Thoughts: I loved all of these indies, especially Short Term 12,…Her is the best of the best. Can it be a tie? See Best Romantic Movie for my reasons why, but seriously just go see the movie if you can’t see why.

The Movie That Had All The Makings To Be Great, But Wasn’t: OZ THE GREAT AND POWERFULMy Nominations: The Host | Oz The Great and Powerful | After Earth | Gangster Squad | The Lone RangerMy Thoughts: How do you screw up Oz the Great And Powerful? Weak performances and poor interpretation of characters, the movie was missing the charm and class of Wizard Of Oz.

The Worst Movie This Year I’ve Never Seen (Refuse To See): EVERYONEMy Nominations: The Smurfs 2 | 21 & Over | Justin Bieber’s: Believe | Romeo and Juliet | Machete KillsMy Thoughts: They’re all winners. Or Losers. Either way, I’ll pass on watching any of these films. Even if it’s on TV and for free. Nothing in any of these movie appeal to me. With the exception of Romeo and Juliet, but nothing will live up to Baz Luhrmann’s interpretation.

Miscast Actors: JAKE GYLLENHAALMy Nominations: Moises Arias as Bonzo in Ender’s Game | Jake Gyllenhaal Detective Loki in Prisoners | Jamie Foxx as the President in White House Down | Michael Shannon as General Zod in Man Of Steel | Bradley Cooper as Richie DiMaso in American Hustle | Armie Hammer as John Reid in The Lone RangerMy Thoughts: While all of these actors were completely distracting in their roles. Jake’s was by far the worst. He just didn’t seem right, or believable as a police officer. He’s not a bad actor, I love him actually, he just wasn’t right for the role.

Performance That Made Me a Fan (when I was otherwise neutral): BRIE LARSON
My Nominations: Scarlett Johannsen, Her and Don Jon | Nicholas Hoult, Warm Bodies | Sam Rockwell, The Way Way Back | Brie Larson, Short Term 12 and Don Jon
My Thoughts: I was never really a fan of Brie Larson but her performance in Short Term 12 sold me. It’s a great movie. Sam Rockwell’s character in The Way Way Back was amazing, so he’s the runner up.

Breakout Performance of the Year: BARKHAD ABDI
My Nominations: Liam James, The Way Way Back | Miles Teller, The Spectacular Now | Keith Stanfield, Short Term 12 | Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips | Henry Cavill, Man Of Steel | Domhnall Gleeson, About Time
My Thoughts: All of these guys did some stand out, break out work, but the winner for me is Barkhad Abdi who KILLED it his first time out of the gate. He was intimidating and yet sympathetic at the same time and he was so authentic there was a certain unpredictability about his performance. That is why he wins.

SPOILER ALERT AWARDS

**warning do not read if you don’t want to know what happens in a certain movie!!**

SPOILER ALERT AWARDS!!

(YOU’VE BEEN WARNED)

Most Disturbing Image, I’ll Never Get Out Of My Head

That orca pulling his trainer under water again and again and again in Blackfish.

The first 2 minutes of Fruitvale Station showing the You Tube clip of what really happened that day on the train: watching an innocent man get shot.

Seeing Carson Phillips’ rotting body (Chris Colfer) after not being found until after the weekend outside of the high school, Struck By Lightning

The Annabelle doll and the Hide and Seek game, from The Conjuring

The beaten and tortured face of Alex Jones (Paul Dano), on The Prisoners

Jonah Hill “walking his dog”…and then we see that “dog”…on The Wolf of Wall Street

The Winner: Though I can never unsee Jonah Hill “walking his dog,” I found myself incredibly traumatized by seeing that orca pull Ken Peters down over and over again. The clip is so intense, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to continue watching it. I don’t know how that guy did it.

Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio) looking so nervous waiting for Daisy (Carey Mulligan) to arrive then he disappears, only to reappear at the front door soaking wet, The Great Gatsby

The Winning Moment: Loki morphing into Captain America was hilarious and memorable, but the winner is Brick Tamland screaming “93! 93!” Friggin’ hilarious.

Most Tearful Moment

When Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) finally lets the ordeal and trauma of what happened to him affect him, Captain Phillips

Watching this old school, hillbilly, red neck old man cry when realizing the horrible things he did as a young kid, Blackfish

Mrs. Travers (Emma Thompson) watching the end of Mary Poppins while remembering her life with her father, Saving Mr. Banks.

Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor) being reunited with his family, 12 Years A Slave

Marcus (Keith Stanfield) reciting that poem about his painful past of abuse, in Short Term 12

The Winner Moment: While all these moments made me cry, the winner would have to be that ending of Captain Phillips. The entire movie was so stressful that watching Tom Hanks breakdown was also just a cathartic release for the audience…well okay, for me. It was a great moment.

Best Movie Moment

Sandra Bullock finally making it to land after her excruciating journey, Gravity

Katniss’ (Jennifer Lawrence) final look of despair, then anger, then wrath to camera at the end of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.

The ending credits scene to Fast and Furious 6 realizing the 3rd movie had a purpose and the reveal of Jason Statham as the guy who killed Han, on purpose.

Gatsby and Daisy running around as he throws shirts at her. Leo looked so young!, The Great Gatsby.

The argument between Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams in the bathroom leading up to that purely crazy kiss, in American Hustle.

Jordan Belmont (Leonardo DiCaprio) extremely high and incapacitated, trying to make it from the payphone inside the building to his car outside by crawling to it, The Wolf On Wall Street

The Winning Moment: This is a tough one. I can’t decide. Leonardo DiCaprio crawling to his car was amazing, and Jennifer Lawrence’s look to the camera chilled me to the core. The ending of Fast and Furious 6 made me say, “Holy s***” along with the rest of the theater, and when Gravity cut to black I could only say WOW as I unclasped hands from my seat. Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Adams yelling at each other was so crazy, it just worked and Leo looking younger than ever is something I’ll never forget. So who wins? I don’t know…who would you pick?

These are the winners. Did I get it right? Who would you pick to win in these categories? Who did I leave out?